Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we make our way to Perris, CA, a quiet town which, for fifty-one weeks a year is a quiet, relaxing SoCal town. But on this weekend, WGAS Motorsports brought eight of the best monster trucks in the region to Perris Auto Speedway to open the Southern California fair. Former World Champion Jim Creten and Bounty Hunter lead the charge with wife and teammate Dawn Creten right behind in her typical Scarlet Bandit. Defending the home state turf was Kelvin Ramer in his 1934 Ford Coupe Time Flys. Wild Flower was in the house as well, but with Rosalee Ramer busy attending Georgia Tech, the driver’s seat was occupied by Kelvin’s friend Jeff Souza. Tony Canedo brought his fan favorite Play N’ 4 Keeps to the Speedway, with Roger Stidell in Destroyer right behind. Tony pulled double duty this weekend, also driving Survivor while friend John Northcutt took to the cockpit of Tony’s third truck, Enforcer. When a capacity crowd piled in for the freestyle action, taking place on the front straight-a-way of the Perris Auto Speedway, all signs pointed to a real battle for the championship.

In the afternoon competition, Survivor and Enforcer got the crowd pumped up with nice runs featuring good air and honorable attempts at slap wheelies. Jeff Souza and Wild Flower got big air over the painted tire obstacle and carried high speed throughout the run to take the lead. Dawn Creten, not to be outdone, soared through the bright blue sky and followed it up with some dusty cyclones at either end of the front straight to put herself in the hunt for the win. Kelvin Ramer immediately announced his presence and did several nice slap wheelies and great combos to take the lead with only one truck to go. But Bounty Hunter proved unstoppable, shooting for the moon, doing lightning fast donuts and appearing to never lift off the throttle had the crowd roaring, clearly acknowledging the Tonganoxie, Kansas, native as the champion for the afternoon show.

Just a few hours passed before it was show time all over again. Destroyer had a good run going before sparks started showering from his front brake rotor, prompting officials to shut him down. It wasn’t an easy finale for Survivor, too. Midway through his run, the driver tried to pull a slap wheelie when the steering line broke and he too had to be pulled off the track. Jeff Souza seriously stepped up from the first show with huge air and dizzying cyclones to have the crowd on his side, at least for the moment. Dawn Creten had a high speed run with great air to again tie for the lead for the time being. Then, Time Flys got some great air and complimented it with an incredible save to get the crowd fired up. But just like the afternoon, Jim Creten was a man on a mission with incredible slap wheelies, huge air and super fast cyclones until the left rear ring gear snapped. Not wanting to make things worse, Jim Creten called it quits, but not before he had put together a fantastic freestyle run that had the crowd cheering on and on, obviously cementing himself as the double winner.

In other motorsport action, the sellout crowd was treated to mini dwarf car and junior outlaw sprint racing, where hairpin turns and close walls on either side had the racing very competitive. Also, Jake Blackwell gave rides in his Extinguisher ride truck deep into the night. So, we at “The Allen Report” are now headed to one of the last shows of the year for WGAS Motorsports, the Monster Truck Fall Nationals at the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds in Turlock, CA. We look forward to giving you more coverage from there. In the meantime, thank you for reading, a sincere thank-you to John Borba all the WGAS Motorsports crew for hosting us, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we make a short trip over to Globe, Arizona, a small town where mining, copper and quaint little shops are a natural part of life. But on this night at the Gila County Fairgrounds, four gear grinding, dirt slinging monster trucks made their debut at the county fair to a packed and enthusiastic house. From just down the road in Marana, Arizona was Rod Wood driving McGruff, ready to take a bite out of the competition. From the polar opposite side of the state in Parker, Arizona were Mark Schroeder and his truck convicted of mass devastation, the Felon. Finally, New Mexico’s Jack Koberna brought two of his trucks to the show. Jack himself drove the Rislone sponsored Tuff-E-Nuff while friend “T-Bone” took the reins of the world’s only two wheel drive monster truck, Cyborg. A standing room only crowd took to the grandstand to watch wheelie contest, Chicago style racing and car munching, high flying freestyle.

By hitting the cars the wrong way, wheelie contest was sure to be interesting. Cyborg was first out and gave very good efforts. Felon set the bar for both trucks to come with a pair of very good forty-five degree angle wheelies. McGruff, police LED lights flashing brightly, gave excellent attempts hoping to win over the fans. The monster truck legend from New Mexico Jack Koberna only continued the game of top this with a good sky wheelie then followed it up with an amazing slap wheelie that put the crowd on its feet. No official winner was crowned, but the fans cheered on for all competitors.

On to side by side racing, where only two jumps as opposed to the regular three were needed to achieve victory. In the first heat Felon defeated Cyborg in a clean cut, straight up manner to advance to the finals. The second heat was one to remember. Going through the one and only turn, Tuff-E-Nuff went wide and smacked the freestyle van stack with one tire. Not wanting to lose, Jack stood on the throttle to barely beat opponent McGruff. However, his rear tires had not centered up from the turn. This sent the Chevy trophy truck into a nasty sideways rollover and it continued rolling until it was back on its wheels, causing the crowd to erupt. Despite the good show, McGruff was kept on the floor and officials sent Felon out to get the finals in the books. The final race was too close to call and with no official line judges or designated finish line, the fate of the race was put in the hands of the fans, whose loud applause was in McGruff’s favor.

With that, we were on to the main event of freestyle where Rod Wood put together an unbelievable run by smashing both the motor home at one end of the floor and the van on the other, big jumps over the cars and dusty cyclones to ongoing cheers from the crowd. Cyborg had a good hit over the van and decent sky wheelies going when driveline issues forced the monster’s pilot to end his run early. Mark Schroeder and Felon only raised the bar higher still with wheelies, donuts, and even a couple jumps using the floor boundary construction barrier as the ramp. Finally, Tuff-E-Nuff fought a broken sway bar by doing some excellent cross thread moves over the cars and van, destroying what was left of the motor home and culminating in donuts that went on and on until you couldn’t see the monster. Despite the lack of freestyle winner, the beyond capacity crowd, well used to demolition derbies were extremely approving of the first monster truck outing at the fair.

In between monster action was one at a time, vehicle versus clock mud bog racing. After a slow start, many of the vehicles made it to the other end of the pit, often with increasingly faster times. As dirty as it was, the fans loved it. As for us at “The Allen Report”, you will next hear from us at some of the biggest shows our friends at WGAS Motorsports put together all year, the Southern California Fair in Perris. Till then, thank you for reading, a special thank-you to the Gila County Fairgrounds for hosting us, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we travel to West Valley City, Utah, just a stone’s throw from Salt Lake City, for the sixth year in a row. It’s a city known for snowy mountains and home of hockey’s Utah Grizzlies and basketball’s Utah Jazz. But on this day, ten huge names in monster trucks were going full bore outdoors in the nineteenth annual Maverik Clash of the Titans at the motor race facility Rocky Mountain Raceways. Jimmy Creten was back again, ready to defend the clean sweep he got a year ago in his sleek Bounty Hunter Black n’ Yellow. Wife Dawn Creten was ready to give it all in her usual Scarlet Bandit. Trent Montgomery was in the house in Knucklehead, the official monster vehicle of metal band Five Finger Death Punch. Newcomer Brian Maes rounded out Team 2Xtreme Racing in Iron Outlaw. Larry Swim was looking to take the title back to St. Louis as the pilot of Firestone Bigfoot #18, with rookie Josh Gibson right behind in the classic bodied Retro Bigfoot #14. It was sophomore season at RMR for Doug Charles and his radical looking Wild Thang, complete with an emotional tribute to original owner, Tony Farrell on the side. Travis Groth was gearing up for the show in his bright orange Trouble Maker while twin brother Tyler was doing the same in his green Double Trouble. Finally, hometown driver Ron Duncombe was ready to give the fans a show in his Maverik Monster Trakker.

RMR is the only monster truck venue where figure-8 racing is the course on hand and it proved difficult for Tyler Groth, Josh Gibson and Jimmy Creten, all penalizing themselves for knocking down cones at some point in their qualifying runs. Larry Swim and Firestone Bigfoot didn’t have that problem though, taking the number one qualifying spot and handily dispensing Wild Thang in the first race of the night. The second heat in the first round saw the Groth twins race each other. Trouble Maker had the lead for the first three of the four corners, but a complete one-eighty coming out of the last one gave the win to his brother and Double Trouble. Josh Gibson had been fastest loser in both the first two rounds, but his luck finally ran out in the first semi-final round against veteran teammate Larry Swim. Bounty Hunter’s chances of a second clean sweep in back to back years came to a grinding halt in the other semi-final when teammate and protégé Trent Montgomery upset the former World Champion to meet Firestone Bigfoot in the 2 lap super final. Trent held nothing back, but Larry was unstoppable, taking the racing victory on Saturday night.

The first night of competition was closed with a customary wheelie contest. Wild Thang kicked things off with two great efforts that were rewarded with a score of 4.5 out of 10.0. Truck after truck came after him only to fall short until Retro Bigfoot came in and rode a wheelie perfectly vertical the length of half the main straightaway to garner an excellent score of 8.5. But the very next truck was a master of wheelies. Jim Creten rode out two straight up and down wheelstands that went on and on to get the crowd on its feet. The judges were impressed too, as Bounty Hunter was the new leader with a score of 9.7. Despite the best efforts of Knucklehead and Firestone Bigfoot, Jimmy Creten walked away with yet another wheelie contest victory.

Sunday was even more competitive, with the top three qualifiers separated by less than a second. In the second race of the night, Maverik Monster Trakker just barely squeaked past Iron Outlaw in a photo finish. In a rematch from the night before, Dawn Creten raced her husband in the middle quarter final. Also like Saturday night, Dawn was coming on strong but she ran out of racetrack, giving Bounty Hunter the win. Scarlet Bandit would still advance to the semis, however, as the fastest loser. The second semi-final was practically a final in itself. In one lane was the former World Champion Bounty Hunter. In the other was perennial favorite Larry Swim and Firestone Bigfoot. Jimmy Creten pushed as hard as he could, but just fell short to the member of the original monster truck team by less than a truck length. Larry and Bigfoot advanced to the super final, where Trent Montgomery and Knucklehead were there waiting. Unfortunately, on the first jump of the first lap, the rising star for 2Xtreme Racing suffered a broken right front planetary, leaving the track and surrendering the win and racing clean sweep to Firestone Bigfoot. It was later announced to the fans that this was the first time in the history of the event that a breakdown after the first of the super finals’ five jumps had ever happened.

Freestyle got off to a strong start when Travis Groth and Trouble Maker had good speed, nice sky wheelies and good donuts just before time ran out for a score of 31.25 out of 40.0. Double Trouble raised the bar even higher with wheelies, donuts, and hitting the car pyramid at the back straightaway of the oval to receive a 34.0. Jim Creten was only a few trucks later, and was on a roll with long wheelies, huge air, and smoke blowing donuts when his RPM’s went too high and his transmission let go with time still on the clock. Still, his score was good enough to take the lead at 34.75, less than a one point ahead of Double Trouble. But the very next run was by Trent Montgomery. A tough loss in the final round had the Knucklehead driver on a mission. The young gun showed he’s learning from the best in the business, with high speed, continuously hitting every obstacle and riding the limit without going over it to finish his time. The crowd roared when his score of 37.25 came over the loudspeaker, taking the lead with only one truck left to go. Larry Swim gave an honorable effort, but it wasn’t good enough to overtake the three year newcomer. Trent Montgomery got his first career win at Rocky Mountain Raceways in freestyle, bringing the win back to Tonganoxie, Kansas.

Next for us at “The Allen Report”, we will be coming to you from the WGAS productions at the Southern California Fair in Perris, CA. Look for more monster truck action in October. On that note, thank you for reading, a sincere thanks to the Rocky Mountain Raceway staff for their superb hospitality, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Weekend Recap

This time on “the Allen Report”, we once more venture to the Fairplex in Pomona, California, a town rich in motorsport history as the birthplace of the modern day drag racing funny car and a host city of one of the first ever stadium off road event produced by the legendary Mickey Thompson. But on Fourth of July, it was all about gear grinding monster trucks. Jim and Dawn Creten made the trip up from Del Mar with Bounty Hunter and Scarlet Bandit ready to thrill the fans, as did Tony Canedo, only this time pulling double duty in Play N’ 4 Keeps and Enforcer. And nineteen year old rising star Eric Swanson was in town ready to perform in his sharp looking off road bodied Obsessed monster. When a huge crowd piled in, all things appeared to point to an action packed night, and all the performers delivered.

To start the action, a new Pomona tradition was born when “the Rocketman” Choche Valencia had fans marveling at his one-hundred and fifty-five foot leap out of a cannon into the safety of a big net. Next were the daredevil freestyle motocross riders, notably the leader of the “Fitz Army”, Metal Mulisha’s own Jimmy Fitzpatrick. The fans cheered on and on as the riders went bigger and bigger with the tricks, ultimately culminating in backflip variations.

The monsters got off to roaring starts too, with roundy-round racing setting the bar for what was to come. Dawn Creten and Eric Swanson faced off for the right to face Bounty Hunter in the super final. A slow start and hitting one the turning tires slowed down Eric, giving Dawn a rematch against her husband from Del Mar. Jim Creten rarely makes the same mistake and he did not here, crossing the finish line just ahead of Scarlet Bandit. Freestyle began with Eric Swanson getting great air off the bread truck and doing some excellent donuts. Tony Canedo and Play N’ 4 Keeps gave great wheelie efforts and were rewarded with the crowd’s cheers. But Jim Creten showcased why he won the Freestyle World Title in 2005, with huge speed, smashing through a motor home and completely vertical wheelstands. To finish off the monster action, the others joined Bounty Hunter on the stadium floor and drove up and over the huge center mound, leading to all the monsters doing side by side donuts to ignite the initial fireworks as a prelude to what was just a few moments away. A spectacular fireworks show, with hearts and happy faces to almost any color conceivable had the crowd gasping and cheering deep into the night.

Well then, we at “The Allen Report” are going to take a little time off, but when we return, you will have access to monster truck figure-8 racing, courtesy of our friends at Rocky Mountain Raceways. Til that day, thank you for reading, a special thank-you to John Borba and WGAS Motorsports for their hospitality, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we travel back to the San Diego County Fair, a place that, for one hundred years, has delivered on fun rides, great food and exciting entertainment. And on the first, second and third of July, the entertainment was in the Del Mar Arena, where seven ground pounding monster trucks arrived to do battle in wheelie contest the first day, freestyle the second and, on the third day, qualifying in the afternoon and racing in the evening. The husband and wife team of Jim and Dawn Creten came to town, Jim in his sleek new black and yellow Bounty Hunter and Dawn in her traditional Scarlet Bandit. The “Flying Spaniard” Tony Canedo drove his newly purchased Survivor and Roger Stidell, as usual, piloted the trophy truck bodied Destroyer. The father-daughter team of Kelvin and Rosalee Ramer were in the house to defend their southern California home turf, Kelvin in his 1934 Ford Coupe Time Flys and Rosalee in her usual Wild Flower. Finally, Rick Swanson and his crowd-amazing Wrongway Rick arrived.

On the first day, the wheelie competition was heated. Rosalee Ramer showed how far she has come in only three years of competition with almost perfect verticality and great distance. Not to be outdone, her father Kelvin managed to get his monster on its back tires incredibly well, going vertical more than once. But Jim Creten had his wheelies down pat, often coasting mid-wheelie and not wasting any time. A perfect score of thirty saw Jim Creten take the afternoon show win. Only a few hours later, the crowd was back in the arena and so were the monsters. The Wild Flower driver gave admirable efforts, successfully going vertical on a couple occasions. But Jim Creten was unstoppable, shoving his wheelie bar deep into the dirt, not letting off the gas and delivering fantastic distance to get the double victory.

The second day saw high flying freestyle. Rick Swanson proved the namesake of his truck by getting good air, established great flow from one jump to the next, and, as always, finished off his run with some great donuts. Or reverse donuts, depending on which way he was going. Tony Canedo gave honorable attempts in Survivor’s freestyle run, but numerous teething problems hindered the trucks performance, and it showed on the judges’ scorecards. But Jim and Bounty Hunter are former World Champions, and they threw down. Cyclones, big air, great wheelies, you name it, Jim Creten did it. Even though his streak of perfect scores came to an end, it was still high enough to get the double victory.

During first show qualifying on the third and final day, Rosalee Ramer had officials looking at their stopwatches in amazement as she clocked in an incredible 13.40 seconds on the roundy-round course. Even Jim Creten and Bounty Hunter couldn’t overtake the multitalented eighteen year old, just more than one tenth of a second off the fastest time. With an odd numbered field, it was decided that Bounty Hunter would get a bye into the final round where the winner of a standard four truck bracket would face him. With the chance to face the winner from the past two straight days on the line, Rosalee Ramer and Dawn Creten faced off in an all female semi-final. In the first turn, Rosalee rolled hard into the freestyle ramp. Only the truck was damaged in the rollover and Rosalee was A-OK. Spectacular as it was, Dawn Creten won by default and with it the right to face her husband for the championship. The black and yellow Bounty Hunter crossed the finish line first, but WGAS officials concluded that Jim hit the second ramp with only one tire, costing him the race and the clean sweep. The overall Racing victory went to Dawn Creten, in only her third set of shows since April of this year, proving that the unbelievable horsepower extends to all members of Team 2Xtreme.

The crowd was also treated to Mini Dwarf car and Junior Outlaw Sprint car racing preceding each set of monster chaos. Numerous attempts to overtake and several close finishes had the crowd on edge from flag to flag more than once. The lack of repeat winners in either class showcased how competitive motor racing is, no matter the size of car.

And that’s a wrap from us here in Del Mar, as we next head north of Los Angeles to Pomona, where Fourth of July fireworks, backflipping freestyle motocross, even more monster action and a brand new stunt await us. That said, thank you for reading, a sincere thanks to John Borba and WGAS Motorsports for having us, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Weekend Recap

This time on The Allen Report, we make our way to Puyallup, Washington with the bright lights of Seattle not far away – a city known globally for its coffee, Pike Place Market and no shortage of sporting excitement. On this night, the excitement was in the Washington State Fairgrounds, where a sold out crowd packed the grandstands to watch roundy-round style racing and hot, car crunching freestyle. The trucks and drivers arriving to do battle were headlined by former World Freestyle Champ Jimmy Creten in his traditional Bounty Hunter Yellow. Teammate Russell Steeley was right behind in the new Knucklehead, the official monster truck of heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch. From just down the road in Watsonville, California was the father and daughter team of Kelvin and Rosalee Ramer, Kelvin in his usual Time Flys and Rosalee continuing to establish her own identity in Wild Flower. Twins Travis and Tyler Groth stepped up for the home state crowd with Travis piloting Trouble Maker, a truck brand new for this season and Tyler in his bright green Double Trouble. Roger Stidell had double duty tonight as not only did he drive Destroyer in racing but Tony Canedo’s new truck Enforcer in freestyle as well. Tony himself drove Play N’ 4 Keeps as well as his third truck Survivor, having recently bought it from Chuck Jordan. In a rare moment in the sport, there was no dirt on the performance floor, making things interesting for all competitors. With that, the battle began.

In side by side racing, Bounty Hunter and Time Flys got off to fast starts, handily dispensing their respective opponents. In the final quarter final race, Destroyer got the best of his home state rival, Double Trouble. In the heavyweight side of the semi-finals, Kelvin Ramer did not hold back but Bounty Hunter was spot on in the turns and low over the straightaway cars, entering the final round. Trouble Maker beat Destroyer to the finish line, avenging his brother’s loss to get a chance against the former World Champion in the finals. The race for all the marbles was one to remember. Halfway home, Bounty Hunter’s lead was not so clear cut anymore. The final jump was too close to call. WGAS officials reviewed the video several times. To rather mixed reaction from the audience, Jimmy Creten was declared the winner by the slimmest margin. But the ultimate excitement of monster truck freestyle was still to come.

Travis Groth and Russell Steeley set the bar early with scores of 26 out of a possible 30. Double Trouble gave the capacity crowd a reason to cheer with a spectacular cartwheel crash after hitting the race lane ramp way off center. Tyler was okay, but no score was given due to finishing his run early. Rosalee Ramer showcased what she could do with very good air, smoke blowing cyclones and continuing on despite a blown right front tire. The judges rewarded her efforts with a perfect score. To ensure there would be only one freestyle winner, the crowd’s applause would be the decision maker in the event of a tie. The second to last competitor was Rosalee’s father in Time Flys, Kelvin threw down the best wheelies of the night and had good air, but he also backed up without hitting anything several times, so he ended up one single point shy of perfection. With only the night’s racing champion left to go, all signs appeared to point to a rare double victory for Jim Creten. But early in his run, an awkward landing bent Bounty Hunter’s four link bar which took out his drive shaft on the very next jump. For safety, event officials shut the truck down. With no score, this meant that Rosalee was declared the event’s freestyle grand champion, which caused the crowd to erupt in applause and cheers. The World’s Youngest Professional Female Monster Truck Driver was ecstatic to receive the win, jumping up and down and waving.

To close the night, a Washington State Fair tradition continued through an epic fireworks show as legendary rock band Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” song played over the stadium loudspeakers. It was a wild night in Puyallup, and we at “The Allen Report” are very confident that the fans got their money’s worth. We are going to take a break now, but we will return to the San Diego County Fair very soon after a year away, and more coverage will follow. Well then, thank you for reading, a special thanks to John Borba and WGAS Motorsports for having us, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Weekend Recap

This time on the Allen Report, we make our way to the Maricopa County Fair, which each year caters to a huge crowd with good food, thrilling rides and
excellent entertainment. On Friday and Sunday of the fair, the big crowd was in the Sanderson Ford Arena for high flying, super fast monster truck action. Tonight’s action would be provided through wheelie contest, roundy-round racing and freestyle. Friday featured Ben “Bobo” Winslow representing Sturges Motorsports in Nasty Boy. Fellow Tucson representatives Rod Wood and McGruff were in the house as well. The father and son team of Rick and Eric Swanson made the trip from California ready to give a show. On Sunday, these four were joined by the other two Sturges monster vehicles, Unnamed & Untamed with “Wildman Sam” Sturges at the controls and good friend Cesar Nunez at the helm of the ’63 Corvette Rat Attack.

On Friday, Nasty Boy and McGruff gave preview freestyle runs to get the crowd pumped up for later action. When the show officially began with wheelie contest, admirable efforts were given by all, but Rod Wood carried a beautiful slap wheelie most of the length of the floor despite little traction to the loudest applause from the crowd.

In side by side racing, officials decreed that not one but two laps would be required to achieve victory. In the heats, Rick Swanson had no trouble against Nasty Boy, punching his ticket to the finals. Son Eric did the same when Rod Wood gave a good race but was just unable to overtake the nineteen year old before the finish line jump. Before the finals, the two runners-up were bound for a third place race. But when mechanical issues prevented McGruff from firing up, the veteran Ben Winslow conserved his truck to make sure he got to the final jump and took third place. In the father and son racing finals, Rick had the lead halfway home but Eric was picking up speed. At the final jump of the bracket, nineteen year old Eric barely pulled out the victory, much to the delight of the audience.

In Freestyle, Nasty Boy soared through the Arizona sky and finally got the wheelies he had been seeking to much positive response from the crowd. Rod Wood was a man on a mission about not being able to race for third place and carried high speed, big air and superb cyclone donuts to put himself in the hunt for the freestyle win. Rick Swanson had had cross thread moves, huge air and great sky wheelies off the construction barriers, attempting to win over the fans. But Eric Swanson shot for the moon, duplicated his father’s sideways moves and put his truck into the spin cycle to the loudest cheers of all to sweep racing and freestyle the first night. With two shows to go on Sunday, the game was far from over.

On the first show Sunday, every driver gave good attempts, but Rod Wood did not rest on his laurels from two nights earlier, taking the second straight wheelie win, going straight up and down and riding it out for most of the arena floor. It wasn’t an easy win though, as Nasty Boy, Rat Attack and Unnamed & Untamed all gave the Tucson native a run for his money.

On to racing, where only one lap, not two, was needed to win. Rick Swanson buried the throttle to the floor to beat Nasty Boy coming to the finish line jump in the first round. He got the biggest air of the weekend, but a slap wheelie sent him into the concrete barriers at the the end of the track, heavily damaging the front differential. When only two trucks remained, Eric Swanson was looking to defend his Racing win streak, but Sam Sturges in Unnamed & Untamed had other ideas. When the checkered flag flew, Eric’s trophy truck monster was was just ahead of his veteran opponent, going two for two in Racing. In freestyle, every driver threw caution to the wind, hoping to get the loudest response from the spectators possible. But once more, the second generation driver Eric Swanson put big air, high speed and dusty cyclones all into the mix to a clapping and cheering crowd, clearly sweeping the Racing and Freestyle again.

In the fair closing show late Sunday, Racing was cut from the program to make room for the filler acts. For freestyle, some of the losing democross cars were made into a seven car jump and two vans were put in place as well to be crushed. In the final wheelie contest, the man behind McGruff picked up where he left off with perfect verticality and superb distance in two of his three tries to sweep wheelies for the weekend. In the final freestyle competition of the Maricopa County Fair, every driver gave it all. Nasty Boy was first to hit the two vans which gave way underneath him, sending him on his side. Driver and former bullfighter Ben Winslow was just fine. Cesar Nunez performed well in the Rat Attack vehicle, hitting every jump with gusto before a blown front tire ended his run early. But the driver behind the wheel of Obsessed was a kid on a mission. Big air over the cars, dirt slinging cyclones and high speed all through the run erased any doubt who the winner was.

The other acts alongside monster trucks were side by side tuff truck racing, which was won by John Davis in vehicle number 1495, an off road style pickup truck. John was actually behind until the final lap, where his opponent started to celebrate his victory one lap too early. And the last man standing democross had the audience both cheering and laughing with intentional spinning out, thunderous contact and vehicles coming down from the jumps on top of opposing cars’ trunks. A timed event, this race went on and on until one car was still running. That car was number 86 with Tim Randall at the wheel.

Well, monster truck fans, we at “The Allen Report” are just getting started with a busy summer and autumn schedule coming up fast and we look forward to keeping you updated from throughout the west coast, among other places. Thank you for reading, a sincere thanks to Zack and Grand Canyon State Promotions for having us, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we once again make our way to the Kruse Automotive and Carriage Museum in Auburn, Indiana, for the 4th Annual International Monster Truck Museum Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Reunion. Hundreds of people came from places like New York, Texas, Arizona and many places in between to watch the following five monster truck legends have their careers come full circle by entering the Hall of Fame:

– Diehl Wilson – Owner and driver of the beautiful and competitive Virginia Giant monster trucks
– Jon Breen – Owner and driver of the unique and innovative Mad Dog monsters
– Michael Vaters – Owner and driver of the envelope pushing Black Stallion monsters
– Andy Brass – One of the most hard charging and fearless team Bigfoot drivers of all time
– Kirk Dabney – Owner and Driver of numerous monster trucks from the Blue Thunder monster car to the Monster Truck speed record setting Extreme Overkill

Along with the inductees, the following legendary monster trucks were on display for one and all to observe:

The day began on the north side of the museum, where the inductees held the annual Monster Truck History Discussion, answering questions and sharing stories about the good ol’ days. IMTM board member and first ever inductee Bob Chandler of Bigfoot started what could be a new tradition in this annual meeting by asking the inductees the first question. Inductees and attendees alike enjoyed hearing about the sport’s history so much that the discussion ran longer that scheduled.

As the sun set on the clear, chilly northeastern Indiana day, the hour was at hand. A delicious hearty meal was served as historic monster truck footage, most of which one would be hard pressed to find anywhere else, was shown on projection screens.

The inductees were clearly humbled to receive this honor. This was especially the case with both Vaters and Dabney as they made plans to say thanks to the Hall of Fame by rebuilding their respective monster projects for display in the future. And as each inductee’s interview with TheMonsterBlog.com’s Ross Bonar ended, the audience’s applause for the new Hall of Famers were long and loud.

Finally, for the third year in a row, an auction was held to benefit the International Monster Truck Museum to end the night. And in very single bidding case, the drama was intense. We strongly encourage anyone who loves monster trucks and the sport’s history to make next year’s event a can’t-miss.

While Jim and Christopher were enjoying the 4th Annual Monster Truck Hall of Fame, guest reporter Carol Allen attended the Arizona State Fair where ProForce Productions held their inaugural event. President Jamie McNutt brought the always popular Jimmy Creten and Bounty Hunter Yellow, Dawn Creten in Iron Outlaw and the “Flying Spaniard” himself, Tony Canedo driving Play N’ 4 Keeps. The popularity of the monster trucks was evident as the bleachers were packed to capacity for all six shows. The weekend culminated in a backflip by Jim Creten in Iron Outlaw. Announcer Lloyd Massey’s efforts to get the crowd involved was made easier by the enthusiastic support monster truck fans gave the drivers. Dawn Creten and Tony Canedo entertained the monster truck loving crowd with wheelies, some donuts and by jumping various obstacles.

Also, an act new to the Arizona State Fair, the Globe of Death appeared, with the daredevil motorcycle riders amazing the crowd with their gravity defying stunts followed by some very nervy tuff truck competitors. Carol would like to personally thank Loren Saubel, Jamie McNutt and Phil Vicinanza for their kindness and support.

That’s a wrap for us at “The Allen Report” for the year 2014 as we intend to enjoy the first quarter of 2015 simply as fans. But don’t worry monster truck nation, it won’t be long before you hear from us again. So, thank you for reading, a special thanks to the IMTM for hosting this great event once more, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we travel to the Cochise County Fairgrounds in the United States border town of Douglas, Arizona, for an American Thunder Motorsports show, courtesy of an invite from promoter Ron Leach. On the card were three rounds of freestyle by four monster trucks on both Friday and Saturday night. Travis Sturges took the wheel of the 1940 Willys Nasty Boy. His Uncle Sam Sturges, as usual, was piloting a 1942 Dodge Panel Wagon called Unnamed & Untamed. Todd Morey came to town at the helm of Iron Outlaw and Jimmy Creten was in the house with his Bounty Hunter Yellow machine.

With only three jumps to work with on the Cochise County Fairgrounds floor, it was up to the drivers to get creative in order to entertain the fans. On Friday, both Sturges monsters managed terrific wheelies, something that can be expected from the trucks in that fleet. Nasty Boy even rode wheelies that lead straight into a jump off the middle double-sided ramp. For Jimmy Creten, the end of the first night came a little sooner than expected when the front drive shaft and differential came apart after his first hit of the night. But it wasn’t just the team owner who had a bad evening. Iron Outlaw lost right front drive midway through his run. Throughout most of the night and part of the next day, Jim and Todd, with help from their competition, worked feverishly on their rides to get them back in show condition. Their efforts were rewarded as both 2Xtreme Racing vehicles were ready for showtime the next day.

When a tremendous crowd piled in for Saturday’s action, all signs pointed to every man for himself, beat or be beaten freestyle action. The Sturges team picked up where they left off the night before with some slap wheelies that put the crowd on its feet. The man called “Wildman Sam” even threw some donuts into the mix to prove that his creations are all around freestyle machines, not just wheelie specialists. But Jimmy Creten was a man on a mission after the early-ending run of the night before. Huge air, constantly going straight from one obstacle to the next and cyclones that truly were dirt slinging had the capacity crowd going nuts with applause and cheers. Afterward, the drivers signed autographs until long after show-ending interviews.

In other motor race action, classic style, car against clock mud bogs had the fans wanting more. On Saturday night, the American Thunder Motorsports crew gathered two mud bog trucks, hooked them up with a chain and let them loose in a tug of war battle. Finally, the legendary transforming jet drag racer known as Vorian Prime arrived and gave an encouraging message which appealed to the kids in the audience.

Stay tuned monster truck fans, as very soon, five monster truck legends receive the sport’s highest honor at the International Monster Truck Hall of Fame ceremony on November 1st of this year in Auburn, Indiana. Days are running out to buy tickets to this annual event. We at “The Allen Report” hope to see as many of you as possible there. On that note, we would like to thank you for reading, a special thank you to Ron Leach and the whole American Thunder Motorsports crew for having us, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we travel up to the biggest 4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals of the year at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis. Eight of the fastest, most competitive monster trucks in the nation were on hand to do battle on a modified “So-Cal style” race track. Mark Hall held the reigns of his usual Raminator. Mat Dishman was right behind piloting Rammunition as was relative newcomer Mike Miller in Mopar Muscle. But Team Bigfoot wasn’t going down easy as Dan Runte, running his own 25th Anniversary paint scheme on #18 and Larry Swim at the controls of Lucas Oil Bigfoot #19 ensured that The Original Monster Truck team would fight all the way to the end of the weekend. Returning to the Jamborees after a few years away were Jim Koehler driving Avenger with his brother Steve behind the wheel of General Tire, along with Dave Radzeirez and his signature diesel powered XDP Diesel Monster Truck. Elsewhere on the grounds, the world’s only electric powered monster truck, Odyssey Batteries Bigfoot #20 was on display.

Old school monster trucks were in the house as well. Monster truck creator Bob Chandler brought the legendary BIGFOOT 1. Past Monster Truck Hall of Fame Inductee Allen Pezo hauled in not only his own Predator 1, but a replica of the original King Kong, built by fellow Hall of Famer Jeff Dane. Both trucks would continue on to the International Monster Truck Museum a few hours north in Auburn following the weekend. IMTM President and creator Jeff Cook had his old school style truck Shotgun Harry on display for all to see. Moline, Illinois, resident Fil Tristan, owner and b4uilder of the beautiful black and orange Titan was part of the festivities – Titan was back under its own power for the first time in many years with a new motor and made a grand return to the Jamborees it frequented so many years ago. Finally, longtime mud racer John Nowacki showed off his Mud Monster old school style truck. On Sunday, between racing rounds, Bigfoot 1, King Kong, Predator 1 and Shotgun Harry did a parade in front of the main grandstand. Much to the delight of the fans, Kong had its hood and bed raised high in the air, true to the old school formula of appealing to the fans with tilt hydraulics.

The first race of the weekend showed clearly how tough a track this would be to master. In the last of the quarter final races, Avenger had the lead against teammate General Tire General only to come into the last of the three turns too hot and did a complete 360, giving up the win and the shot against reigning series champion Raminator. In the first semi final, Dan Runte proved his experience on these tracks, besting teammate Larry Swim. Mark Hall was just too fast for Steve Kohler and won to set up a classic Bigfoot/Raminator final round. Dan had the lead for the first two thirds of the race, but broke free around the final turn, costing him time and the race. In efforts to conserve their trucks for the entire weekend, Dave Radzeirez and Mark Hall pulled out of freestyle this first night. But the fans would not go home disappointed as Dan Runte and Jim Kohler both put together high speed, big air runs, each one including a massive jump from a moderate sized ramp, over a gap to a ten foot high plateau of cars. Both moves put a roaring cap on the first of four races.

Saturday would feature two races on the same day. The afternoon race featured a rematch from the night before, only this time in the first race of the night. Dan Runte continued to put pressure on his Dodge sponsored rivals by facing all three members of Hall Brothers racing and beating them all to head to the winner’s circle, catching up points-wise in the process. Once again, Dan Runte and Jim Kohler stole the show in freestyle, with big air, cross threads and, in Avenger’s case, terrific slap wheelies.

Between races, International Monster Truck Museum and Hall of Fame President Jeff “Wildman” Cook and Vice President Allen Pezo announced the fourth International Monster Truck Hall of Fame class, set for induction this November:
• Andy Brass, a legendary driver of both old school and modern day style Bigfoot trucks.
• Jon Breen, the owner and driver of Mad Dog and other memorable trucks and one of the sport’s early great innovators
• Kirk Dabney, a builder and driver of numerous monster trucks, from the monster car Blue Thunder all the way up to the more recent Maximum Overkill
• Michael Vaters, creator and driver of Black Stallion, a champion and owner of one of the sport’s longest running and most successful teams
• Diehl Wilson, the owner, builder and driver of Virginia Giant, one of the most beautiful monster trucks to ever run

Also before the second race on Saturday, Dan Runte’s 25th Anniversary as a member of Team Bigfoot was commemorated with a tribute video and a Harley Davidson motorcycle sporting a paint scheme to mirror that of his beautiful truck for this year. Dan’s friends at the Team Bigfoot shop had not told Dan ahead of time that they were doing this, and the veteran didn’t hide his thankfulness as his competition looked on.

Back on the track, Larry Swim in Lucas Oil Bigfoot went all the way to the finals. But a chance at a re-race with teammate Dan was ruined when Mat Dishman in Rammuntion beat the silver anniversary driver to the line. Mark Hall downed his own teammate to set up the third Hall Brothers/Bigfoot final round in as many races. Larry gave it all, but it just wasn’t enough to catch up to the Hemi-fueled Raminator, as Mark Hall got win number two of three throughout the weekend with only one more to go. With increasingly intense lightning in the surrounding area, race officials were forced to cancel freestyle. Even so, all signs pointed to a hot and heavy final race on Sunday.

The fourth and final day of racing on the 4-Wheel Jamboree schedule was one for the history books. Team Hall Brothers continued to rain on Dan Runte’s parade with Mat Dishman knocking out the 25th Anniversary truck in the first round. But team driver Larry Swim was ready. The Lucas Oil Bigfoot defeated Rammuntion in the semi-finals to advance to the finals, where Raminator was there waiting. With all eyes on the finish line, Mark Hall finally pushed his truck too hard, spinning out in the final turn of the 2014 edition of the 4 Wheel Jamboree season, handing the last race win to Larry Swim. But Mark Hall, having participated in three out of possible four final rounds, and winning two, was once more declared the Monster Truck Thunder Drags Champion.

To salute the fans one more time, Dave Radzeirez had a plan. The double ramp jump from the first two days had been changed completely during the overnight into something meant especially for one trick. And at the end of the freestyle competition, the man called “Diesel Dave” and his XDP monster truck executed a picture perfect backflip, even with an imperfect reaction to the cars on the ramp. It was a wild finale to the Jamboree season, and you can bet that Team Bigfoot will be out to take the championship back in 2015.

With our very memorable first venture to the biggest 4-Wheel Jamboree of the year now history, we at “The Allen Report” will very soon catch a plane back to Indiana. Only this time, we will be bound for the 4th Annual International Monster Truck Museum Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & Reunion in Auburn, just north of Fort Wayne. Tickets to the festivities, including a Meet and Greet on Friday, October 31st, and History Discussion, gourmet dinner and the Induction Ceremony itself on Saturday, November 1st are available on www.MonsterMuseum.org. We hope to see you there as the 5 legends of monster trucks mentioned above receive our sport’s highest honor. Well then, thank you for reading, a heart-felt thank you to Family Events for their wonderful hospitality, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we headed to the Fairplex in Pomona, California for the Los Angeles County Fair opening “Flip Fest”. Mark Schroeder arrived to pilot Devastator. For fans of Mark’s Felon, I’m happy to report that he’s bringing it back for first quarter next year. Also in the house was Marana, Arizona’s own Rod Wood driving McGruff. The father and daughter team of Kelvin and Rosalee Ramer came to town with Time Flys and Wild Flower. The incredibly talented seventeen year old was extremely popular with the audience. Crowd favorite Jimmy Creten stepped out of his usual Bounty Hunter and into Iron Outlaw, built especially for a huge, never before seen stunt to round out the night. Finally, making its world performance debut was the Knucklehead monster truck driven by rock band Five Finger Death Punch lead guitarist Zoltan Bathory.

To start the night’s insanity, Jim Fitzpatrick of the famous Metal Mulisha lead the charge in sky high, high danger freestyle motocross. When the initial competition ended in a two way tie, “Taco” Bell and Fitzpatrick were given one more jump each to win the crowd over. A huge Backflip Superman gave Fitzpatrick another mark in the win column.

In monster truck freestyle, vertical wheelies and good momentum put McGruff the Crime Dog in the lead early. Zoltan Bathory, despite having driven Knucklehead only once before, put the crowd on its feet with an exciting run. Rosalee Ramer got the fans pumped up with the biggest air of the night to this point followed by a rollover. The Devastator had some wheelies of his own, a big jump and even better speed to give him tens across the board from the judges. Living up to the event’s name, the epic finale showcased Time Flys and Iron Outlaw backflipping in unison just moments after a pair of FMX riders did the same right between them. The ensuing cheers from the capacity crowd were long and loud!

With another great show from WGAS Motorsports in the books, we at “The Allen Report” shall very soon jump on a plane bound for Indianapolis to attend the final and biggest 4 Wheel Jamboree of the season. Well, thank you for reading, a sincere thank you to our friend John Borba and the WGAS crew for their gracious hospitality, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we once again make our way to motorsports venue Rocky Mountain Raceways to watch eleven monster trucks do battle on the sport’s only figure-eight race track. Jimmy Creten, as always, was driving Bounty Hunter Yellow while his wife Dawn Creten was right behind in Scarlet Bandit. Trent Montgomery returned behind the wheel of Bounty Hunter Black and newcomer Nate Kirchner took the reigns of Iron Outlaw. Representing Team Bigfoot were Kevin Koszala in Odyssey Batteries #11, Darren Schnell in Vi-Cor #15 and Larry Swim in Lucas Oil #19. Doug Charles arrived piloting Wild Thang. Hometown driver Ron Duncombe returned at the helm of Maverik Monster Trakker. Darren Migues drove his newly bought Just Get ‘R Done and Kreg Christensen took time off from his brand new truck Wicked to take control of RoboMachine to wrap up the field.

On Saturday, Trent Montgomery showed how quickly he’s learning from the best as he took the number one qualifier spot. From there, he went all the way to the semi-finals before getting knocked out by Vi-Cor Bigfoot, who had advanced as fastest loser from the quarter-finals. To advance to the finals, the 2Xtreme Racing owner had to face every Bigfoot truck once, but won all three match-ups to make it to the two lap super final, where a rematch with Vi-Cor was there waiting. A mistake free run ensured that Jimmy Creten took the night one Racing win.

Closing Saturday night was a wheelie contest. Late in the truck lineup, Trent Montgomery continued to show he was for real with a 9.7 score. However, the big boss and new Racing champion continued his three year domination of wheelies, edging Trent by just five hundredths of a point at 9.75.

On to Sunday where they raced all over again and went for broke in freestyle. Again, Trent Montgomery in Bounty Hunter Black was fastest qualifier but, his Sunday night Racing ended a little sooner when he followed his teammate, Nate Kirchner and Iron Outlaw, across the finish line. Both semi-final heats were 2Xtreme vs. Bigfoot races. Vi-Cor “Bessie” Bigfoot won his race and Bounty Hunter Yellow did the same, setting up a rematch from the night before. The multi-year Bigfoot driver fought all the way to the end, but Jimmy Creten won racing for the second night in a row. Now, Jimmy set his sights on the clean sweep.

With two minutes to work with and the entire track fair game, the Maverik Clash of the Titans was sure to end with high competition in freestyle. Midway through the battle, the sophomore driver in Bounty Hunter Black put the crowd on its feet with an exciting, fast run where he hit everything. His efforts were rewarded with a score of 35.5 out of a possible 40.0. Maverik Monster Trakker, Iron Outlaw and the three Bigfoot trucks gave it their best shot. But dusty donuts, huge air and slap wheelies, all in a class of their own, ensured Bounty Hunter Yellow was unstoppable. With a score of 37.5, two whole points above his teammate, the 2005 World Freestyle Champion finally took the clean sweep at RMR that had eluded him for so many years, until now.

We at “The Allen Report” look forward to the annual event at RMR every year, and this weekend was a blast to watch. Thanks so much to Rocky Mountain Raceways for their hospitality, thank you for reading, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we go up north to the Cowlitz County Fairgrounds in Longview, Washington to watch six monster trucks do battle in three rounds of freestyle. Promoter and Monster Truck Hall of Famer Mike Welch and his “Freaks of Freestyle” tour brought in Monroe, Washington’s Seth Fisher driving Tow Monster. Also there was veteran Jeff Bainter behind the wheel of Captain USA. Selma, California’s Randy Hoegh had the keys to the brand new, old school built, farming inspired identity Raging Raisin appearing for the very first time. Roger Stidell was in the house with Destroyer. Rounding out the battleground were Tyler Groth in Double Trouble and twin brother Travis Groth piloting Survivor.

The real heroes of the weekend were the “Freaks of Freestyle” track crew. Rain over the past day and a half threatened to make the venue a rodeo arena sized mud pit. But the crew smoothed out the track surface, making both mudslinging cyclones and good traction for sky high jumps equally possible. With two dirt-ramp-to-row-of-tires obstacles to hit and no shortage of room go into the spin, all signs pointed to hot and heavy, fast paced freestyle action.

As usual, the most popular competition in monster trucks today was a heated affair. Seth Fisher managed a few good hits on the tire-row obstacles and some fine donuts even with a broken steering pump. Roger Stidell had the crowd cheering with super-fast cyclones and great jumps in Destroyer before a broken transmission ended his day. Jeff Bainter showed no signs of slowing down with high speed and a jump onto the center landing ramp that brought the crowd to its feet. In the third and final round, Captain USA threw down with superb cyclones, lots of speed and big air. But the crowd cheered loudest of all for the show-ending pair freestyle starring Double Trouble and Survivor. Starting as a game of Follow the Leader, the two gradually went their own ways to entertain the huge crowd. Travis succeeded in bringing Survivor into dizzying donuts while Tyler jumped higher and higher over the tire rows every hit. The crowd went wild, clearly choosing the twins as the co-winners.

Also on the card was a mixture of classic and current filler acts as mud bog drag racing had the crowd making noise as did the burnout contest. We at “The Allen Report” sincerely urge fairground owners to contact Mike Welch to bring this great quality show to their venue. Next on the calendar for us at “The Allen Report” is monster truck figure-8 racing at the Rocky Mountain Raceways in West Valley City, Utah. Until that day, thank you for reading, a heartfelt thanks to all the Freaks of Freestyle staff for their hospitality, please don’t forget to “Like” the Freaks of Freestyle tour on Facebook, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report” we again look back to 2013, when we caught a plane to northern Indiana to make the 3rd Annual International Monster Truck Museum Hall of Fame Ceremony and Reunion in Auburn, Indiana, just outside Fort Wayne in the northeastern part of the state. Nearly 300 people came from many different places to see the following monster truck personalities get inducted:

• Allen Pezo of Predator
• Dan Patrick of Samson
• Gary Porter of Carolina Crusher & Grave Digger
• Scott Stephens of King Krunch
• Army Armstrong – announcer for both live events and television

During the weekend’s festivities, four monster trucks and one special monster vehicle were on display for one and all to examine up close. These included:

The afternoon of the big induction ceremony, the annual IMTM History Discussion was held with the inductees reminiscing about both monster truck history and personal careers. Some stories provoked laughs, others sympathy. Later that evening, a gourmet dinner was served, accompanied by induction videos from the first two Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. Following dinner the induction ceremony commenced and each new inductee into the International Monster Truck Hall of Fame was rewarded with a standing ovation both preceding and following his induction and Question and Answer session hosted by TMB’s Ross Z. Bonar.

We at “The Allen Report” were honored to be part of the ceremonies and urge everyone who loves Monster Trucks and Monster Truck history to make the Hall of Fame ceremony a must this year – the date has just been announced and it will be going down on Saturday, November 1st, 2014. Visit www.MonsterMuseum.org for more information and watch for tickets to go on sale.

Now that we’ve caught up with 2013, be looking for our huge recap of the 2014 Monster Jam World Finals coming very soon. So, thanks for reading, a gracious thank you to the International Monster Truck Museum and Hall of Fame for hosting this great event, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

Weekend Recap

This time on “The Allen Report”, we look back to the end of last year, when a familiar sight returned to the Arizona State Fairgrounds with an interesting twist. Six monster trucks arrived over the first weekend of November. However, both halves of the field would be split into different shows over the weekend. Six shows happened over the three days. Every win was rewarded with points. Shows number one, three and five starred Rod Wood in El Perro Loco, Nasty Boy piloted by Travis Sturges and team owner Sam Sturges back in Unnamed and Untamed. All the other performances showcased Jimmy Lyons in Firedrill, Dawn Creten in control of Iron Outlaw and Darren Migues behind the wheel of Bounty Hunter.

In the first group of shows, Rod Wood had increasingly higher competition. He started his weekend with a clean sweep of wheelie contest, S-track obstacle course racing and freestyle on Friday. His opponents started to catch up when Nasty Boy got a win in wheelies, only to have his right front tire snap off upon landing. Undeterred by the snap of his streak, Rod just started another, winning both obstacle course and freestyle to maintain his lead. But when Sunday arrived, Nasty Boy shed off the pit rust quickly, winning both of the first two competitions before the Crazy Dog finally got his groove back with a 27 point win in freestyle.

Over in the other group, Bounty Hunter continued the game of “anything you can do, I can do” by duplicating Rod Wood’s clean sweep in his group’s first show. That evening, Darren started to do the same with a win in wheelies. But in obstacle course, Bounty Hunter suddenly shut off with the finish line just ahead, giving the win to Iron Outlaw. Darren Migues had everyone on notice in freestyle with an exciting run. But he could only tie with Dawn Creten. In the weekend’s final show, Jimmy Lyons finally found his winning wheelies, even with only rear wheel drive. But Darren Migues won in obstacle course and laid it all out in his final freestyle.

When all the points were tallied up, Rod Wood and El Perro Loco were declared the Arizona State Fair Overall Champions. The weekend also featured some thrilling “tuff truck” action and rides for all with the Boogie Monster.

For us at “the Allen Report”, next up caught a plane to northern Indiana to watch five legends of the monster truck sport receive induction into the International Monster Truck Hall of Fame. You’ll see that next week as we catch up on action from the end of 2013, thank you for reading, a grateful thank-you to All-Star Monster Trucks for hosting these great events, enjoy the photos and cheer on!